Is It Ok for Catholics to Use Essential Oils?

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“Is it forbidden for a Catholic to use essential oils?” I’ve been asked this question several times lately since I started my essential oils business and the first time I was baffled by it. For that question to even be asked I think there must be serious misunderstanding of what essential oils are, so let’s start with the basics:

What Are Essential Oils?

An essential oil is a highly concentrated oil containing the volatile aroma compounds of plants. So to make lavender oil, for instance, you’d need about 150 pounds of lavender flowers to make one pound of lavender essential oil. While they’ve become very popular in the past few years, essential oils aren’t a new thing. They’ve been used for ages and are even referenced in the Bible. They’re probably in the shampoo in your shower and cleaning products under your sink, too.

So what we’re dealing with here is oils made from plants: Lavender, Tea Tree, Lemon, Oregano, Rose, and hundreds of others.

So Why Is Anyone Scared of Essential Oils?

Maybe it’s that essential oils are considered kind of crunchy and sometimes Catholics get nervous about the crunch. Drinking raw milk seems innocent enough, but could it be a gateway to drinking the blood of virgins in a pagan ritual? That was a joke. But you know what I mean. It’s gets a little silly.

Because some folks who practice New Age spirituality (which yes, is a big no no for Catholics!) are also often interested in That Granola Life, Catholics can have a knee-jerk reaction to anything crunchy without rationally considering the facts of the matter.

So here’s a helpful test to help you figure out whether you’re using essential oils the right way:

Question 1: Are you using Lavender oil for bug bites? Are you making your own deodorant with tea tree oil? Are you using Purification blend to get the stink out of musty laundry?

Answer: Your soul doesn’t seem to be in danger.

Question 2: Are you diffusing oils while trying to channel the spirits of the dead?

Answer: You are using essential oils incorrectly.

Now I’m not saying that there’s no complexity to these issues at all. There’s certainly people who use essential oils in a way that seems very “woo woo” to me. I steer clear of that.

But essential oils were being used long before New Age was a thing and they’re backed by plenty of science. Certain oils are anti-bacterial or anti-fungal. Some of them smell so good that you want to eat your diffuser. Just because some crunchy folks of the New Age-y persuasion use oils, doesn’t mean that they’re off limits for Catholics who plan to add them to their home toolkit for health and cleaning. That’s just silly logic. I mean after all, New Age practice also uses candles and incense. And last time I went to Mass it didn’t seem like Catholics were avoiding either of those things.

So essential oils are ok for Catholics? Yes. But don’t use them for anything that is against Catholic teaching. Seems pretty common sense-y, right? Ta da!

Need some oils?

Personally I use therapeutic grade oils from Young Living because I love their seed to seal guarantee and feel confident in the high quality of their product. I started using their oils last summer and started distributing them this past fall. If you’ve been wanting to jump in with essential oils, I recommend beginning with the Premium Starter Kit which includes 11 oils, a diffuser, and extra goodies and samples.

After ordering a kit, you receive wholesale membership and can get all your Young Living products at 24% off retail price (no strings attached).

Click on United States (or your country if you live outside the U.S.).

Click on Become a Member at the top of the page. (Becoming a member does NOT mean that you have to sell oils or that you have to make a monthly order! So don’t worry.)

When it says who introduced you, check the first circle and put 2736034 in both spots.

Fill out info and sign in information.

For tax info, click the top circle that says individual-here they will ask for your social security number only because it is a federal law and they will only use it for tax purposes if you ever decide to sell.

This is hilarious but really taps a theme that I think many have been afraid to address. Using eos is kind of like mixing potions and many herbalist and natural health practitioners have been accused of being witches throughout human history. Great article. Great offer.

I’d like to try them all for different reasons! The one I’d open first though would be Thieves Oil… I love the smell and I’ve heard it helps kill airborne germs? That would be wonderful for Wisconsin in the winter!!

Haley, can you link to a reputable source regarding the use of EOs during pregnancy? Which should be avoided and for what purposes?

Young Living sells a manual with uses and recommendations for all their oils. Pregnancy-related information is included, if I’m not mistaken.
Best for my pregnancies: AromaEase as a diffusion or on wrists to combat morning sickness, Lavender on my tummy for sour stomach, Peppermint + Lavender on my temples and necks for pregnancy migraines, and PanAway for all those after labor aches.

I would love to win this, thanks for holding the giveaway! I have mainly used essential oils for cleaning purposes, so I would love to try the Stress Away oil (because stress –> away) and the Thieves’ oil because I feel like I’ve read it’s good for immunity-strengthening purposes, or something (I would do my homework before using it 🙂 ).

Haha, love your explanation 😉 I was pretty dumbfounded to see a debate on this recently online! I just can’t even comprehend people thinking that plant oils would be evil. Anyhoo…Frankincense!! It’s been on my list of oils to stock and I haven’t taken the plunge yet. It seems awesome. Thanks, Haley!

Homeschooling 4 kids has been a bit exhausting lately. I’d love to have a scent that I can put in the diffuser to keep us all calm and focused! Rosemary? This giveaway is amazing! Thanks for the chance!!!

I would love to try the Joy blend and also the Theives’ oil. I’ve done some reading about Theives oil at the Mother Earth News Fair (which I highly recommend to you and your family if you’re interested in farming and all things crunchy. I’m 30 and met a lot of people in my age group with like minded life goals.) and I believe I would use it often!

Funny, I just started using oils, and my husband (jokingly) commented, “what is this black magic?” I responded that if the wisemen brought frankincense to baby Jesus, then it must be good. 🙂 I’m interested in Thieves oil! God Bless!

My sister just bought into YL, so now it seems I really need to get on board…! Purification is where I’d like to start or possibly frankincense – with the hopes of my wee boy’s rash clearing up with one of those as help!

Also, Haley, who do you follow for info and advice on kid-safe use? I’ve newly been following a few licensed aromatherapists online, and I respect info that’s grounded in research (and Robert Tisserand’s recommendations), but some of the info is conflicting. If you have a good source, I would love to know! Thanks! 🙂

I have wanted to get into essential oils for so long, but as a newly married couple, the expense has been out of reach so far – it would be so great to win this! I am most interested in the Stress Away blend – because what high school teacher doesn’t need some extra stress relief help in her life? 🙂

I would love to try Stress Away & Joy. As I go into the Lenten season, this is exactly what I’m praying to go in my life. With a 10-month old and busy-hard-working hubby, I’ve found I’ve let stress takes it toll. This would be a great addition to my Lenten journey this season!

I’ve been a passionate and loyal buyer of Plant Therapy oils for years and haven’t ever tried YL. This seems like the perfect opportunity to try a new brand. I’ve heard great things about YL Frankincense so I think that’s what I’d be most excited to try!

Well, my first choice would have been the Stress Away. Because I homeschool 4 kids. Which includes an Algebra class (in which I am waaay over my head). And often makes me cry. So. Yeah. Stress Away.
But then you said the whole Purification for musty laundry….which made me realize that I could probably use some o’ that, too. Because 4 kids…and algebra…means I frequently forget clothes in the washing machine. A lot.

I would like to try the frankincense oil. My son has icthyosis and also presents with extreme eczema.
We have used tea tree oil mixed with a carrier oil but the smell is no longer tolerated by him.
He itches constantly and I am persistent in our search for some relief.

Even if I don’t win does anyone have any experience using frankincense oil?

I’d love to have/try the peppermint oil! The smell has always been so invigorating for me. I’ve been on the fence about trying oils since it would be a rather large investment for our family. Winning the starter kit would be a blessing!

I discovered the awesomeness of essential oils this summer when I was trying to help my dad who was starting chemo for cancer deal in a natural way with the side effects of the chemo. In my research I learned so much that I started using them myself and with my family. I learned that thieves oil is a sort of miracle oil. And I gave my dad a diffuser with immune booster and peppermint for nausea. I’m a big fan. Would love to try thieves oil myselfand for my kids!

So hard to choose!! I’m an RN and have been curious about essential oils for a while, but have never tried them. Stress away sounds amazing for after a 12 hour hospital shift and I love the smell of frankincense for peaceful prayer time, but I’m also interested about the medicinal properties of tea tree, peppermint, and lavender….choosing 5 might be cheating though, so I’ll go with stress away!

I’ve tried a lavender essential oil and and a peppermint one, and they were both great, but I’m curious to experience a blend. The Joy one is intriguing, and thanks for setting up a wonderful giveaway! You’re the best!

My YL starter kit just arrived! I would love to add these, especially Joy to my labor tool kit. Also, major props to YL for having great customer service and replacing my Stress Away after I mis-installed the rollerball fitting and dumped the ENTIRE bottle on my husband’s wrist. Eek!

I received purification as a gift this winter and have loved using it in a spray bottle as an air freshener. I’m so interested in switching out chemicals in my home with natural substances. I’ve heard very good things about thieves and would love to try Joy! Now that you are selling oils, i look forward to the occasional recipe/frequent uses for different oils on the blog 🙂

I definitely have been wanting to try the Theives blend. With a husband who is a teacher, we do as much immune boosting/bad germ killing as we can and I’ve heard many positive reviews about it. But I’m also interested in the Joy blend. As a major sleep deprived mama, I’ll take any help I can get in the ‘keep the joy alive’ area of my vocation.

I’m so interested in Frankincense! It is incredible to think that that same oil was given to Jesus. Scents are so powerful and I think it’s absolutely awesome I can SMELL something Jesus smelled!
Also, super interested in the Thieves blend. I JUST bought a diffuser and I’m not even sure where to start! Loved the post-I laughed out loud at your milk joke! Always love reading and listening to the podcasts!

I have heard amazing things, but never knew where to start! I would love to try the frankenscense. Something so well known and commonly used in biblical days. I’d love to learn how to incorporate it into our household use and tie the extraordinary with the ordinary. It just seems so amazing to me to learn the forgotten uses of things and lost art of using what God put right in front of us and created for our good.

Stressaway. I love this blend. It got me through the hardest part of my life. I thought I was going to have to go an anxiety medicine and the stress away worked instead (?). I also brought it with me to deliver my 3rd child. Wow! Worked like a charm. When my nerves were at their wits end…this calmed me right down. ?

So I was once having an allergic reaction to one of my three major environmental allergies at my parish and was going around to see if anyone had any allergy medicine that wasn’t Benadryl (I wanted to be awake for Mass) and one woman rattled off some essential oils that would fix it and called allergy medicine poison…I admit that made me really suspicious about essential oils. Thoughts on that? What sort/severity of health things can essential oils be used for and when do they really just not do enough or need to be used in conjunction with more typical medicine? That actually makes me especially interested in the peppermint oil, because some commentators mentioned help with migraines/headaches. My standard remedy for my migraines is Tylenol and a bottle of Coca-Cola (with caffeine!) – and sometimes no just the Coca-Cola. So I’m open to trying peppermint oil because that’s just as “not mainstream medicine” as Coke (though I wouldn’t call Coke “crunchy”). Reading this post kind of took away some of my weird feelings about essential oils, since you don’t seem like a crazy person :), but my skepticism comes a lot more from people disparaging my lovely allergy medicine in favor of essential oils (and similar things) rather than any circumstantial New Age links.

Also, I’ve never made my own deodorant, but I buy some homemade stuff off Etsy that uses essential oils for scent and its actually the best. So much better than all the clinical strength anti-perspirants I used to buy.

I have a couple friends who are really into EOs and part of me really wants to try them and part of me feels like they are too complex. I see so much conflicting information about them online:

Make capsules to cure what ails you or put a couple drops in your water. (No, wait! Someone else says to never ingest them!)
Dap some on your pulse points or behind your neck. (Absolutely not, says another website. You need to use a carried oil!)

So I get bogged down in all that and have never ordered. But I’d still like to try them so I’m excited you’re doing a giveaway!

Stress away sounds great!! Also, what kinds of ways are people using them that make you think they are a little “woo woo”? I mean I get not using them to channel the dead but what are people getting so upset about? I put essential oils into the soaps that I make and they smell heavenly. I don’t see anything wrong with enjoying the wonderful fragrances God put on the earth for us! I think I am missing something.

I LOVE essential oils… I’d never thought of using them until my roommate started explaining them to me (her mom makes and sells them), and now I use them quite often, mostly her clary sage one for *that* time of the month since I usually get very sick around that time. I’d love to try the Purification and Stress Away oils 🙂

I’ve always wanted to try the Thieves blend! I have a few oils from Doterra but have yet to try Young Living. It’s hard to build a collection due to the prices of these precious oils but from what little I’ve used them I know I love them!

I’d probably be most interested in trying frankincense. It’s supposed to be great for emotional issues. Also, my husband used to buy peppermint tea tree shampoo, and I’ve always been tempted to try to make it myself. =)
I do think we run into the crunchy-is-antiChristian mindset a lot. Somewhere along the way people equated moral conservatism with the values of the 50s (i.e., right before the 60s), which threw out folk wisdom as superstitious and pushed things like infant formula and drugs for EVERYTHING. Medical advances are great. Losing everything we know from trial and error, simply because we don’t understand the exact mechanisms, isn’t. I’m always so glad to see posts like this illustrating the important line! (As opposed to things like “Yoga: Is it Witchcraft?”)

Thieves Blend! It’d be interesting to compare it to doTerra’s On Guard, which has worked really well for me in the past. I have friends in both oil camps who are always trying to persuade me toward one or the other (YL vs. DT), so it’d be nice to see for myself which brand worked better for me.

I’m really interested in trying the thieves blend! I wish I saw this yesterday though since I gave up shopping (except for essentials) for Lent. Although since they are ESSENTIAL oils… maybe I will see what hubby thinks 🙂

Vetiver is our go-to oil these days. And add me to the bandwagon that wants to try frankincense. I would also love to try the YL rose oil, but only if I win the lottery (Is it ok for Catholics to play the lottery? LOL!)

I have used purification (borrowed from a friend) on my son’s ear infections when he was little, worked well!!! I am most interested in Theives oil though, would love to win some to clear up the constant sniffles at our house lately!

“Stress away” sounds like it would smell delicious! But I am really interested in smelling “Joy”. I love having oils in my home, and I always enjoy your posts on essential oils. Thank you for the giveaway!

And you post had me in hysterics. I needed a good Bwahahaha today.
”
Question 1: Are you using Lavender oil for bug bites? Are you making your own deodorant with tea tree oil? Are you using Purification blend to get the stink out of musty laundry?

Answer: Your soul doesn’t seem to be in danger.

Question 2: Are you diffusing oils while trying to channel the spirits of the dead?

Firstly, I’m surprised you get that question too, but I’m glad you answered it for folks. Everyone has to learn from somewhere, right!?

Secondly, I REALLY want to try the tea tree oil. I’ve heard a lot of hoopla around that stuff. I also want to try the peppermint because I want to make my own toothpaste. (I’m trying to reduce our waste. I know, I know, call me a hippy–My husband does. Haha!)

I’ve never tried essential oils before in my life, but after hearing so much about them I’m definitely curious to experience it myself.

The Stress Away sounds like a dream! My husband is currently working full time while finishing his master’s thesis. So he is always gone or home and totally stressed. Which makes the rest of us stressed too. It could save our family from a mutual mutiny!!!

One of my favorite smells is frankincense, so I would LOVE that… But having not done some much of anything with essential oils, I would be really interested in the Joy and stress relief ones… This busy mama of 5 struggles with those for sure;)

My mom always had me use Thieves when I was young and it was the best medicine I ever used. I’d love to try Joy, especially in a diffuser. Who doesn’t want to diffuse a little joy? Love your blog. Nice to read about a fellow crunchy Catholic.

I’ve used a few single oils– mostly citruses, lavender, and peppermint. Nothing very high quality, though, and I’ve mostly just used them to make cleaning more pleasant. That said, I’m mostly interested in the blends! My husband is a high school teacher, and I think Thieves or Purification would come in handy!

I’d love to try Joy! I feel like every winter the blues descend upon us, and anything bright and cheery wafting through would be a welcome addition. But then, perhaps having sick toddlers contributes to the blues so…Thieves is a pretty close second.

Great topic, never really thought that way but it’s interesting to see others concens.
I’ve dabbled a little in the the EOs but would love of go in deeper. The Joy and Stressaway blends are most intriguing to m but Peppermint sounds pretty awesome too!

I would love to try Joy for my postpartum meh I’ve got going on. 🙂 I also would love to try young living in general. I use three oils from a different company and would love to see if there’s a difference. 🙂

Holy cow, so many people interested in this! Haha! I’m going to say I’m most interested in Panaway. That blend is made up of some fantastic oils. Thank you for this post as well!!! I’ve had only one person ask me if Catholics can use EOs, and I was dumbfounded that they were even asking that lol.

I don’t know which one I would be most excited to use! I’ve been contemplating essential oils for a while but I haven’t been able to justify the investment into unknown territory. This would be a nice start!

I’m most interested in the purification…but also the stress away. I recently moved from a city to the middle of nowhere East Texas. And I am loving the country life! But I had to move pretty quickly and it was expensive. One of my church members gave me a washer and dryer set (so sweet!) to help with costs but the set is probably 13 years old and my clothes, while clean, can have a weird musty smell if I’m not super deligent about getting things out quickly.

Thanks for the giveaway! I haven’t yet tried Frankincense and would really like too. As a side note, I make my own deodorant but in the summer it’s terrible to travel with so I started a different method and add a few drops of lavender EO to my Magnesium oil spray bottle. Not only does it work as a great deodorant, it’s mess free and I get my magnesium that I desperately need. I also use it at night on my legs and the lavender is very relaxing before bed. Just beware if you have shaved and spray it on right after bc it will feel like you are being clawed by a pack of wolverines 😉

Eeek! I can’t pick just one! Lavender – maybe it’ll help me sleep better in this final stretch of pregnancy; Peppermint – for the few headaches I’ve been getting; Joy Blend – sounds great for once baby boy is actually here!

I just started using joy and frankincense on my daughter who was super anxious at bedtime. It is working wonderfully!
Purification oil for musty laundry? You mean I’m rewashing this load in the washer for the third time because I forgot it for nothing?!?! I want to try it!

Wow, that was a long scroll down! ;] Your giveaway is super popular! I haven’t ever done anything with these oils, but I’m kind of curious. Not curious enough to get into them on my own, at least not yet, but enough to comment here :] As such, I have no idea! But the peppermint (and the mix with wintergreen and cloves whose name has already escaped me, but the scroll would have me losing my comment form here so I’ll leave it at peppermint) sounds appealing.

Wow, what a great giveaway! I’ve only tried lavender and lemon because the cost is just so limiting right now. But I’ve been wanting to try thieves – I’ve heard so many good things about it. Thanks for offering this, Haley!

I’d love to try Joy or Thieves! A lot of friends have started swearing by essential oils for developing home remedies, and I’d love to jump into the fun. After I heard about rubbing Vick’s into the soles of the feet for coughs, I’ve been interested in what makes all this stuff work.

Oh my goodness….all the blends sound so appealing…I’m going to go with Stress Away (Although my son would be pretty excited about the frankincense…he was really into the Three Kings this year). Also, thank you for the helpful questionnaire about essential oil use…I think I can keep it straight now.

I have really been wanting to try some essential oils it funds have not allowed it so far. Considering we’ve had lots of illness around here the past couple of weeks – I would be most interested in the thieves!

A friend of mine has inspired me to make my own cleaning supplies. If I had to pick one, THIEVES. I’ve bought all the “essential” ingredients to make a variety of home cleaners, but I haven’t taken the plunge into buying the essential oils yet!

The Stress Away sounds lovely! I’ve been sniffing my Pineapple Cilantro Yankee Candle every time I feel my blood pressure rise because my homeschooling kids don’t want to homeschool. Or if my mother who lives with us wants to “have a talk” while I do manage to sit my energetic boys down to school. Then there’s my three year old little girl, who leaves a trail of devastation comparable to a catagory 3 hurricane. Lol! Life gets crazy! Some good smells around here would be a *ahem* breath of fresh air. 😉

I’m kind of a skeptic about the effectiveness of essential oils, so I would love to try them out without having to swallow the cost. Everyone is always singing the praises of Thieves, and I could definitely use the Stress Away blend right now!

I am so in love with essential oils, I only have a couple and this would be a great way for me to learn about more uses! Since I’m a student I haven’t bought the Young Living kit yet, but I reallyyyy want to! I’m most excited to try out the lavender. Lavender has always been my favorite scent! 🙂

Okay, so my SIL is into the Young Living oils, so we’ve gotten a few. I love the lemon in my water, and we diffuse Thieves when we’re not feeling well…

…But I’ve always felt a little uncomfortable with it. I was flipping through the “use this oil for this ailment” remedy book, and in the back there was a place it talked about chakra and energy and things that are decidedly not good. At all.

I hear you about anti-bacterial properties– that seems pretty black and white. But when we get into feelings and energy…that’s different.

This is from the Young Living website:

“The soothing effect of essential oils has long been used in religious ceremonies to elevate the mind and unlock emotions. Our pure essential oils are ideal for enhancing your spiritual practice when you use these meditative essential oils to diffuse or inhale directly”

Do I have Young Living oils in my house? Yes. But I’m not sure it’s quite as simple as “don’t diffuse while conjuring spirits.” I’d love to hear a more thorough response…maybe you can look through the big spiral bound remedy book and find the exact quite about chakra and energy? I’d love to explore it more and be at peace with my oils!

You’re totally right, Alicia that there are definitely nuances that I didn’t have time to go into. It can get murky if you’re combining oils with eastern spirituality. But I still stick with my main point: that essential oils are neutral. They are tools. You can use them for health and non-toxic cleaning, or you can use them in ways that are incompatible with Christianity–just like you can with candles. That is all up to YOU. I’m certainly not going to agree with every person who uses essential oils about their usage. But I don’t think that’s necessary for supporting my family’s health and using them for various other things.

I also don’t think that using oils for emotional support is a bad thing. There’s plenty of scientific evidence that the properties of certain oils can be mood boosters or relax and calm you. I don’t see how using lavender to relax is any different than drinking my cup of chamomile tea. Or diffusing “happy” oils to brighten my mood is different than lighting my favorite candle that smells good or eating a piece of chocolate, ya know? And as for spiritual use, I do know people who diffuse Frankincense when they pray the Rosary. There’s a reason we burn incense at Mass, after all! Does that mean that it’s ok to use oils in any way with any spiritual practice? Of course not! And discernment and common sense are needed. Does that help at all?

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